Bihari Vajpayee and party's veteran leader LK Advani, Modi had earlier said, "Under Vajpayee government it looked like that the 21st century would be the century of India. But with his departure, the downfall started"

He said that the growth rate was 8.4 per cent but it came down to 4.8 per cent during the UPA's rule.

"However, once Vajpayee's tenure as PM came to an end, we regressed and are moving backwards," he said, while addressing the Indian Diaspora through a live video conference. (ANI)